Nepal’s Gen-Z Revolt Exposes the Perils of Xi’s Orwellian Tech

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As Nepali protesters burn Xi Jinping’s portrait, analysts warn Beijing’s Digital Silk Road—powered by Huawei, ZTE, and CCP surveillance exports—has backfired, fueling youthful anger against authoritarianism.

By TRH Global Affairs Desk

NEW DELHI, September 12, 2025 — When Nepal’s Gen-Z took to the streets in fury against their communist government, the sparks were not lit in Kathmandu alone—they were wired through Beijing’s servers. What triggered the explosion was not just local discontent but a digital crackdown, executed with Chinese help, that mirrored the authoritarian template perfected under Xi Jinping.

Frank Lehberger, a noted Sinologist, argues in a post on LinkedIn that the now-toppled Oli government’s fatal mistake was importing China’s “digital totalitarianism” wholesale. With technology supplied by Huawei and ZTE, Kathmandu moved to impose a blanket ban on all non-Chinese social media. Overnight, millions of Nepali netizens found themselves forced into real-name registrations and subjected to AI-driven surveillance systems eerily similar to those that suffocate online discourse in mainland China. Predictably, TikTok and WeChat—both tied to Beijing—were exempt from the blackout.

This wasn’t an isolated move. Since 2017, China’s “Digital Silk Road” has been laying fiber-optic cables and spreading surveillance tech across Asia and Africa, promising connectivity but delivering digital colonialism. In Nepal, China financed a 90-km optical cable to link its telecoms directly to the “Rasuwagadi-Jilong Gateway” on the border with Tibet. It was sold as development; it has morphed into domination.

The backlash has been visceral. Videos from Nepal show young protesters burning portraits of Xi Jinping, denouncing the Communist Party of Nepal for “plundering the blood of the Nepalese people.” The symbolism is striking: a Buddhist homeland once synonymous with non-violence and spiritual harmony has now erupted in anger against foreign-imposed authoritarianism.

Japanese commentator Edo Naito calls it “digital colonialization with Chinese characteristics.” The formula Beijing once sold its own citizens—“get rich, don’t question the CCP”—is now being imposed abroad. But in Nepal, the bargain collapsed before it even began. The people did not get rich. They only got censored.

That is the lesson from the Himalayas: China’s attempt to export its techno-authoritarian model may be as corrosive abroad as it is at home. Nepal’s Gen-Z revolt signals that societies connected by Beijing’s cables may eventually pull the plug themselves.

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